The Decline of Honesty: Each Generation Values Honesty Less Than the One Before
Key Takeaways
Each generation says they value honesty and authenticity less than the one before it: In September 2024, 87% of Gen Z adults said they value honesty, a full 10 percentage points lower than the share of baby boomers who said the same.
Social platforms, particularly those primed for virality like TikTok and X (Twitter), see higher usage from people who do not rate honesty as very important.
Those who don’t value honesty are less likely to have a strong sense of self, and more likely to seek external validation from others. This contributes to a broader social and political culture that rewards virality regardless of veracity.
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When asked if honesty and authenticity are very important to them, each generation is less likely than the last to say yes. A decline of honesty, and with it trust, has massive ramifications for our culture and the way we communicate with others, including brands and customers.
To be clear, most people still think it’s important to tell the truth: In September, 94% of U.S. adults agreed, but that number falls to 87% among Gen Z adults. That gap has persisted for years. The confluence of declining honesty, especially among younger people, with the ever-growing importance of social media in our lives and businesses — where anyone can create content saying anything, factual or not, and go viral for it — creates a precarious environment for reputation management. If fewer people are interested in the truth, fewer people will do the additional work to seek it out.
Gen Z is the least honest generation
Morning Consult data shows a concerning trend: Gen Z adults consistently value honesty and authenticity at lower rates than older generations. In fact, baby boomers value honesty more than any others, and each generation that follows drops a few percentage points lower.
The importance of honesty is declining with each generation
Notably, the honesty gap is shrinking. The share of Gen Z adults who say they agree that “honesty and authenticity are very important to them” has climbed from a series low of 79% in May 2021, but has remained steadily under 90% for the last year. The consistent decline of valuing honesty across generations from Gen X to Gen Z indicates that this trend will persist, unless something drastically changes for Gen Alpha to reverse course.
The decline of valuing honesty ushers with it a decline in trust — after all, if you don’t value honesty, you’re not only more likely to lie, but also to assume others aren’t consistently trustworthy. It’s logical then that Gen Z trusts brands less than other generations too. In Morning Consult’s Most Trust Brands report we found that Gen Z’s average net trust score for all brands was more than 10 points lower than any other generation.
Women, married couples, suburbanites and high earners value honesty at higher rates
Beyond generation, other demographics also prioritize honesty differently. Men are more likely to say they do not value honesty than women are (insert obvious joke here). Married people value honesty more than singles do, in part because of the accountability inherent in marital relationships. Those with children in their households also tend to deprioritize honesty — but many parents would say white lies are a necessary part of child rearing.
Women, baby boomers, and married couples are more likely to value honesty
Not only do those who value honesty have higher incomes than those who don't, they’re also more optimistic about their financial futures. When asked how they feel about their personal finances across the next year, honest people are more likely to believe they’ll be better off a year from now (32% versus 26%).
Social media platforms are heavily favored by those who don’t value honesty
The decline of honesty with each generation correlates to the social media platform usage of younger generations: those who say honesty is not very important to them show higher usage of social apps like Snapchat, Tiktok, and Instagram — platforms favored by younger audiences.
Usage of these platforms also contributes to the deprioritization of honesty. Misinformation and outright lies run rampant on social platforms, where TikTok “experts” will authoritatively assert baseless opinions as fact, and go viral for it. One fairly innocuous example was when someone went viral for a video spreading falsehoods about what a 30% chance of rain really means, but lies about elections, natural disasters and warfare are much more nefarious.
Many popular social media platforms see more usage from those who don’t value honesty
On the flip side, there are platforms that are more used by consumers who value honesty. For example, Yelp is 5 percentage points more likely to be used by people who say honesty is very important to them than those that say it’s not. This gap hopefully means Yelp reviewers are truthful about their experiences. For LinkedIn, it means users are likely honest about their careers. On the whole though, when going viral is seen as a viable path to wealth there’s an economic incentive to create viral content for the sake of virality, truth be damned.
Those who don’t value honesty seek external validation
There’s a distinct psychological profile for those who value honesty and a profile for those that do not. Those that do value honesty are far more likely to place a high importance on fairness and equality in society, and they have a strong sense of self. They’re also more loyal customers and admire companies that speak out for what they believe is right.
People who don’t value honesty are status-driven
Meanwhile, those that don’t value honesty are consistently more attuned to external validation. Without a strong sense of self, they place higher value on social status, keeping up with trends and being part of the in crowd. This means they’re fickle, and will chase trends and brands that are of the moment.
The decline of honesty creates a dangerous environment for brands
Most people still think that being honest is important, but the generational decline in sharing that view is an alarming trend for society and consumer relationships. When information shouldn’t be taken at face value, suspicions run rampant. Deepfakes created with AI will only compound this way of thinking. For brands, advertising on social media platforms alongside inauthentic or conspiratorial content carries reputational risk. Consumer-led narratives about nefarious brand activity, whether it be lighthearted like the Whole Foods Berry Chantilly Cake scandal or something far more serious, can force brands to respond to situations that have limited basis in reality, which inevitably adds fuel to the fire.
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